Tribal protests, Union minister Shivraj Chouhan's push force MP government to halt proposed Sardar Patel Wildlife Sanctuary

New Indian Express

a day ago

BHOPAL: Massive protests by tribals accompanied by pressure by union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has compelled the Dr Mohan Yadav-led Madhya Pradesh government to put on hold the process of creating Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Wildlife Sanctuary in Sehore district of the central Indian state.
'In pursuance with the directions from the government, the proposal to create the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Wildlife Sanctuary in parts of the Sehore Forest Division is put on hold. Entire process on the issue is put on hold till further orders,' principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF-Wildlife) Subhranjan Sen wrote to the DFO-Sehore on Monday.
Importantly, the proposal to create the sanctuary in the Sehore Forest Division (which comes under the home district and parliamentary constituency of the current union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan) was first mooted during the Congress government in the state, when the current Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar was the state's forest minister.
Around six years later, in May 2025, the present BJP regime headed by Dr Mohan Yadav had set the ball rolling again on the issue, seeking a revised proposal from DFO-Sehore to create the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Wildlife Sanctuary.
Just a month later, 50 houses of the tribal community were reportedly demolished by the forest department for removing encroachments from the Khivni Wildlife Sanctuary in the adjoining Dewas district on June 23.
Four days later, massive protest by tribals was reported in Sehore district, where the local MP and union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was attending a development meeting at the district collectorate.
The tribal protestors, including men and women from Sehore and Dewas districts were protesting the June 23 demolition of houses and the proposed Sardar Vallabhbhai Wildlife Sanctuary, which they alleged would affect 2 lakh people in Sehore and Dewas districts.